This causes those contaminants in mulch colorant to leach into the soil. This sometimes includes the actual dyes used for the coloring. Though those are often harmless. These chemicals can exist in the soil for a very long time and cause issues with plant growth. They could even end up in food grown in the soil. This is especially the case with heavy metals. As well as get in the way of fresh landscapes establishing proper soil life.
Adding dyed mulch to your garden that contains these contaminated products puts them out in the environment.
Rather than being properly disposed of in landfills. From there they can seep into groundwater. They can also runoff into surface water and cause issues in aquatic environments.
This leaves the fish inedible in many cases. On top of potentially being dangerous to the plants, animals, and people who interact with the mulch, dyed mulches can damage the life in the soil.
Healthy soil that will grow the best plants has a complex community. Comprised of bacteria, fungi, insects and worms. They help give it nutrients, structure and the ability for proper water absorption. Damaging this ecosystem in any way is not ideal. Without soil life and the organic matter they help maintain in the soil, it is much less nutritious and the structure can break down into a dusty texture.
One of the greatest benefits of mulches is that they can break down and add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. However, dyed mulches can be made of wood products that have been treated not to breakdown. So they do not provide the benefit they should.
Healthy soils need inputs of organic matter to help maintain their structure and water retaining abilities. All together the problem with dyed mulch includes soil contamination, water contamination, damage to the soil ecosystem, and the inability to break down and add nutrients to the soil. These disadvantages make dyed mulch far superior to natural options. Even if it is the perfect color to match your home decor, the tradeoff is too huge.
Look for products that say they are made of untreated wood or shredded bark. Also, look for companies that advertise using safe dyes or that label their products as eco-friendly.
As this means they probably avoid heavy metal treated woods or toxic dyes. Some mulches like cedar have a natural red color and can be a great alternative to red-dyed mulch. However, they still contain lots of natural chemicals that can inhibit plant growth. These should not be used too close to edible plants. If they were used in the transportation of chemicals, they may be contaminated.
One of the worst sources for mulch is CCA-treated wood, which, used as a mulch, can raise the arsenic level in your soil CCA stands for chromated copper arsenate. Although the use of arsenic in making pressure-treated lumber was largely banned after , it is hard for gardeners to say with certainty that a part of the source of the dyed mulch that we are buying is not old, leftover CCA-treated wood.
According to MSC's Product Certification program, "Certified mulches and soils can be found at major retailers and garden centers across the country. If the colored mulch that you are using is not certified, there is no reason to take a chance in handling it with your bare hands. But what about our dogs and cats? Since we regard our pets as part of the family, guarding their health as we would guard our children's health and since they do not normally wear protective gloves it makes sense to keep them away from areas covered with such mulch.
Erecting a fence is one option for implementing this precautionary measure. One of the least expensive types of garden fencing that you can erect to keep pets out is a chicken-wire fence. This kind of fence is also very easy to set up since all that it involves is pounding stakes into the ground and attaching the chicken wire to the stakes.
To prevent dogs and other animals from tunneling under it, however, it helps to dig a trench and partially bury the chicken wire in it. A good feature about taking this extra measure is that your fence will now double as a barrier to keep garden pests out, such as groundhogs and rabbits. So much for the issue of dyed mulch, human health, and how safe it is for your pets. Whether or not colored mulch affects plant growth is a separate question.
Colored Bark Mulch. University of Massachusetts Extension. As the colourant used in coloured mulch has been generally deemed safe for use, eyes have turned to the content of the wood. The use of recycled wood is a beneficial practice for the environment, yet depending on the content of the wood, harmful toxins such as lead could be lingering from past uses.
When purchasing coloured mulch, then, it is important to consider the wood content. In an effort to improve the quality of our products, Denbow produces a number of our own materials, including processing our own mulches. We work with select sources of material to minimize foreign material in our finished products. Our red and black coloured mulches are made of locally recycled wood, free from these contaminants.
There is a concern that when using wood mulch, the carbon of the wood will interact with the nitrogen in the soil, using the nitrogen to help the decomposition process, but in turn, pulling the nutrients from the soil.
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